Markwildyr.com, Post #154
Well, what did you think of Part 1? Did is ring any bells with you? Let’s find out if Robert learns why he stalked an unsuspecting street person.
Jimmy was
reluctant to talk at first, but he slowly opened up as I drove. From southern Oklahoma,
he’d headed west after a fight with his father. He evaded the question of what
got between him and his dad, but I got the feeling his departure wasn’t purely
voluntary. A mystery since he seemed reasonably well educated, certainly
presentable—or at least I thought he probably was under all that grime.
I parked in my
spot in the underground garage, and we took the elevator to my floor.
Fortunately, we didn’t meet anyone on the way, although some of my neighbors
might wonder what had died if they took the elevator within the next few
minutes.
“Shower
first,” I told him, opening the bathroom door and snapping on the light.
He peeked in.
“A bath okay?”
I nodded,
wondering as I did, if I’d be able to get the tub clean afterward.
“Can I take
my time?”
“As long as
you like. But put anything from your pockets on the counter, because I’m going
to throw these clothes down the trash chute.”
His eyes went
wide.
“Hey, you’ve
got three new outfits in that canvas tote.”
“Oh, yeah.”
It kinda
pulled at my heartstrings when all he laid on the sink counter was a thin, worn
billfold. Everything he owned in this world.
“You need any
help with the faucets?”
“He glanced
at the tub. “Naw. I can handle it.”
“Okay, get
undressed and give me those rags.”
He closed the
door, and I heard the water start pouring into the tub. A moment later a bare
arm poked out of the partially opened door, offering me his clothes. I took
them gingerly, and rushed out into the hall to drop them in the trash chute at
the far end of the corridor. As I arrived back in the apartment, I heard a
great groan from the bathroom.
Alarmed, I
opened the door and rushed inside. “What’s the matter?”
Jimmy’s eyes,
half closed in a look of pure bliss, snapped open at my intrusion. He was
stretched out in the tub with water up to his neck. “S-sorry. It felt so good,
I had to let it out.”
“Okay, I’ll
give you some privacy. You… you might want to rinse off in the shower after you
get through soaking.”
He grinned. “Okay,
I get it.”
While he was
in the bathroom, I picked up the sneakers he’d abandoned outside the bathroom door
and assaulted them with warm water, soap, a scrub brush, and some foot powder.
They looked worn but presentable afterward.
I tossed a
salad but waited for him to tell me which of the frozen dinners in my freezer
he preferred. After a while, I got worried, wondering if he’d fallen asleep and
drowned in my bathtub. I’d gotten up to check on him when I heard the shower go
on.
A few minutes
later, Jimmy emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist. I blinked and did a
double take. He’s entered the tub a young man older than his years and emerged
a fetching adolescent. That dark hair was now a soft brown haloing a freshly
shaven face. Surprisingly white teeth gleamed when he smiled.
“Man, that
was nirvana. Thanks a lot. Uh, I cleaned up the tub.”
“Thanks.
Hungry?”
“Starved.
Been thinking about those spareribs ever since you mentioned them.”
“Spareribs,
it is. Your new duds are in the bedroom on the right.”
He turned his
broad back to me and took off down the hall.
****
Jimmy
polished off the ribs, demolished the salad, drank half a gallon of cold milk, and
had a hunk of store-bought strawberry cake before coming up for air. I sat at
the table with him through every minute of his feast. His table manners
convinced me he’d probably come from a good home back in Oklahoma.
He stared at
the number of dishes on the table as if embarrassed. “I’ll clean up the mess.”
“We’ll do it
together. You rinse off the dishes, I’ll stack the dishwasher. Ten minutes
later, the kitchen and dining area was spick and span.
When we
walked back into the living room, he patted his stomach. “Guess you better take
me back to Morningside before I fall asleep on you.”
“Why not fall
asleep in that bedroom where you got dressed. Your things are already there.”
He glanced at
me. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.
You seem like an okay guy.”
“What… what
will your lady say when she comes home?”
“Lady?”
“There’s some
girl’s things in the bathroom.”
I laughed. “Those
were Cassandra’s. She was my girlfriend of the last six months. Took off for
Pennsylvania two weeks ago. She left a few things behind.”
“Oh.”
“I’m gonna watch
some TV for a while. Welcome to join me, or you can go sack out.”
He examined
my face a moment. “Don’t you expect some kind of payment?”
“Payment? Naw,
all I spent on you was what I was going to risk at one of the Indian casinos.
It was money already lost.”
“Oh. Then I’ll
just go to bed, if you’re sure that’s okay?”
“Have at it.”
He closed the
bedroom door behind him as I inspected the bath before cleaning myself up. He’d
done a good job in tidying up after himself, even going so far as to spray some
of the air freshener to get rid of lingering odors.
As I
showered, I puzzled over his comment about me expecting payment. The kid didn’t
own a thing except a shabby billfold, and I doubted it held a single dollar
bill. I got out of the shower, dried off, and pulled on the robe hanging on a
hook. As I left the bathroom, I noticed light seeping out from under his
bedroom door. I rapped softly and turned the knob at his “Come in.”
Jimmy was
stretched out on the bed wearing a pair of the jockeys I’d bought and holding a
GQ Magazine he’d found on the lamp table.
“What did you
mean when you asked me if I didn’t want payment? You don’t have anything to pay
me with.”
He looked at
me indulgently. “Sure I do.”
“What?”
He laid aside
the magazine and looked down his long frame. “Me.”
I think my
eyes must have gone round as cucumbers because he laughed.
“I thought
that’s why you picked me up?”
“I… no.” I recalled
the runs up and down East Central looking for his particular form moving
through patterns of moonglow and shadow. “At least, I don’t think so?”
“Then why?”
“I….” I
sighed. “Hell, Jimmy, I don’t know. Just something to do, I guess. After
Cassandra left, this place seemed so empty. And I saw you a couple of nights
ago and wondered… wondered about you.” It sounded lame. “Exactly how….” I ran
out of steam as my mind started making connections.
“How I’ll
repay you? Come here, and I’ll show you.”
My legs, independent
of my mind, carried me across the room. Looking as handsome and alluring as anyone
I’d ever known, he sat up and loosed the slip knot on my robe. Then his hands
were on my hips. Warm and strong and… and wonderful hands. He kissed my chest
before lowering his head.
I gasped at
his touch, and suddenly things became clear. I knew why his father, likely a
bible belt puritan, had thrown his handsome son out of the house and drove him
out of town. And… and I knew why I’d pursued him, why Cassandra and all the other
girls in my life had wandered away.
I’d been walking the wrong side of the street.
* * * *
I’ll ask last post’s
question again. This ring any bells with anyone? Remind you of one of your
experiences? Your reactions? Let me know.
Website and blog: markwildyr.com
Email: markwildyr@aol.com
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Twitter: @markwildyr
Mark
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